Srixon Z-TX Fairway Wood Mini Review

Z-TX Fairway more forgiving than expected...

The new Srixon Z-TX Fairway Wood showed up along with the driver and irons for me to test last week and I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the Z-TX fairway as it provided more forgiveness than what I had expected from an athlete model. Srixon has gone with a shallower head, 2.0mm shallower than the previous Z-Steel II and a shorter neck for more control and less twisting.

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High Maraging Face!

What is very interesting is that while typically Stainless steel is the choice material for fairway woods aimed at better or athlete players thanks to its thicker more solid feel, the Z-TX fairway features thin and explosive high maraging steel (Custom 455). The Z-Steel featured a face with thickness ranging from 2.4mm to 2.7mm while the Z-TX maraging faced is a very thin 1.8mm. Maraging in fariway woods has similar characteristics to titanium, a crisper sound and more pop off the face like the very popular PRGR GN502.

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Srixon acknowledges that design choices in the Z-TX were in fact to make it more explosive and forgiving at the same time. The lower CG matched with the shallower face really help launch the ball in the air and while I usually struggle with 3 woods 15* or less in loft (I do not play one in my bag as I play a 17* FW), I was able to hit the Z-TX 15* very well off the tee and fairway alike.

Traditional shape and small size.

While the face is shallower than the Z-Steel II it is still mid height compared to many shallow average golfer models on the market today. It has a very nice shape at address and as a mid sized wood it really borders on compact size with a small 156cc 3 wood and 136cc 5 wood.

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As is with the driver, the Z-TX is available with two shaft choices. A T-55 (55g) and T-65 (65g) which are not bad a shaft for those not wanting to spend more on an upgrade. The SV3020J shafts feature a dual kick point, high and low which help produce a lot of feel as the shaft unloads. Faster swingers who desire more weight should go for the T-65 while more average golfers would be better off with the T-55. If you are a low capper with a fast swing you can also opt for shafts like the Kai'li instead.

Thumbs up on a well rounded fairway wood.

I wish I had more time to spend with the club, but due to time limitations I only had one test session with it. To briefly sum it up, in my opinion:

1. More forgiving than expected - a mid capper should have no problems playing this despite it's smaller size
2. Great looking at address with a mid to compact pear shape
3. Very crisp pop off the face due to the thin high maraging material used
4. Easy to get in the air due to a mid toshallow face height and low center of gravity, both off the ground and tee.
5. Acceptable stock shaft for the average golfer

You can check out the Z-TX listing here in the pro shop!

Here are more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

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